If you read that conversations with Raymond article you’ll see I’ve already referred to a couple of libertarian characters, Wendy McElroy, promoter of pornography, and Jeffrey Tucker.

The page with the original launch of what is now called the Laissez Faire Club is not available (not even on the Internet Archive) but it was reproduced by two other sites, the Libertarian Standard, and Prometheus Unbound

The announcements are identical on both pages. The following is significant: “Laissez Faire Books was fading into irrelevancy and, I think, in danger of being shuttered for good as it was passed from new owner to new owner. Enter Agora Financial, the latest owner of LFB, and hopefully the organization that will oversee its resuscitation and return to relevancy. With Jeffrey Tucker at the helm as executive editor, the prospects for profitability, innovation, and spreading the message of liberty are exciting indeed.”

The following, however, was a lie, “Laissez Faire Books will of course be publishing and selling ebooks and dead-tree books individually.” This accouncement was made in 2012, by 2013 there were no more real books, which was planned since 2011 by Agora Financial.

What’s In A Name?

It was Laissez Faire Books, then it was the Laissez Faire Club, (which apparently is still promoted).

Twenty years ago I bought books from Laissez Faire Books. In those days it was real books store, and a refreshing source for freedom and individualist oriented books. Now it is nothing more than a huge scam.

Their about page says, “At Free the People, our goal is a big one: to permanently shift power away from political insiders and Washington cronies, back to local communities and free people. Using cutting-edge technology and storytelling, we’re building a grassroots constituency that can translate good ideas into education, conversation, and social activism. This community influences culture and public opinion, and drives boots-on-the-ground social change from the bottom up.”

Logan Albright is a research analyst for FreedomWorks, who, according to his Amazon profile, “… is an American author and moustache enthusiast whose many loves include language, music, good beer, and above all personal liberty.”

Trey Grover is another FreedomWorks associate where he was Production Manager.

Sam Martin currently serves as a Creative Director for CRTV which features Mark Levin, Michelle Malkin, and Mark Steyn.

Josh Withrow is an Associate Editor for Conservative Review, was Legislative Affairs Manager at FreedomWorks.

Matt Kibbe is the president of, Free the People, and “Chief Community Organizer.” Really. The same job Obama held before becoming president. He is also, apparently, “a devoted Grateful Dead fan and has said that Deadheads exemplify the self-organizing principles he subscribes to.”

It is obvious that Free the People is just another conservative political site, not specifically interested in individual freedom, though they certainly aren’t opposed to it. I have no objection to their promoting their views, or to any of the individuals associated with these political sites. I personally do not agree with them, but I’m sure that would not matter to any of them.

Nevertheless, it is good, from time-to-time, to have a look at the people and programs one is directly or indirectly supporting and associating with.

Who I am is not very important except to my wife and myself. After three quarters of a century one takes most things much less seriously, especially one's self. I've always been a writer, especially in the fields of electronics, telephony, and IT, and other technologies, as well as philosophy and fiction, the latter two of which are frequently difficult to distinguish.

I have children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. It's the only contribution to the world I claim.

Oh, my. None of them would be my favorites. I am a voracious reader and am interested in everything from philosophy to literature, so I’ve read much more in areas LFB would not have been interested in. But within that scope I know I’ve read all the following and I know LFB carried them, but I cannot swear I bought them all at LFB.

Benjamin Tucker, Instead Of A Book, By A Man Too Busy To Write One

Ayn Rand–LFB carried all her works and, at one time, sold a nifty CD that had all her works digitized. ARI quashed that, but I got one before they managed to remove it from the market. I’m pretty sure I got it from LFB. In any case I’ve read everything Ayn Rand ever wrote that ARI has not prevented from being published, including her novels, non-fiction work, periodicals, letters, and journals.

Robert A. Heinlein, The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress I’ve read everything Heinlein wrote. I’m not sure about any of his other novels, but I know they carried the “Mistress.”

Emma Goldman, some other anarchists possibly Voltairine de Cleyre. Not sure what the works are now.

H. L. Mencken, A Mencken Chrestomathy: His Own Selection of His Choicest Writing, and others.

Albert Jay Nock, Our Enemy, the State

I think I got my first Vernor Vinge book there, either The Peace War or Marooned in Realtime.

I have no use for any of the writers of the so-called Austrian School of economics, so popular with libertarians, such as Carl Menger, Ludwig von Mises, Friedrich Hayek, Henry Hazlitt, Murray N. Rothbard, and Hans-Hermann Hoppe, but LFB carried them all.

That was twelve to twenty years ago, but that might give you an idea just from my memory.